19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Ever notice that one cannot simply get rid of Jesus when confronted by the Truth of Him? The teachers of the law in our verse for today were looking for a way to dispose of Him immediately. This was not a new phenomenon – Luke states almost the exact same wording in Chapters 19 and 22:
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. Luke 19:47-48 (NIV)
1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Luke 22:1-2 (NIV)
No matter how hard one tries - through pretending He does not exist or ignoring Him with our fingers stopping up our ears or seeking any other way of trying to silence Jesus – it does not negate the fact that He is, that He is real, that He is Truth and that He presents us with a choice by His life which demands of us a decision as to whether or not we will follow Him. Remember and beware dear reader, no decision is in fact a decision. The Bible leaves no room for neutral ground.
Several times in Scripture people were clearly confronted with choosing between following the world or following Jehovah. God simply does not want us to do some limping dance between two opinions – a divided mind and heart will never stand. We find in 1 Kings the confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. This conflict, instrumented by God on behalf of the audience of the people of Israel, begs the following question presented by Elijah to God’s people:
21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:21 (NIV)
Joshua presented the same scenario found in the book which bears his name:
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness . Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Josh 24:14-15 (NIV)
Lastly, Peter states the following, in the book of Acts, to the Sanhedrin and other religious leaders of the day regarding the miraculous healing that God had just performed through them:
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name." 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:13-20 (NIV)
As Jesus came as the Light of the world, He has left us here to shine forth His light also through our words and our deeds. We are to be Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to a hurting world. Like Peter and John, we must be bold in professing to others what we have seen and what we have heard without fear of the people. Jesus tells us:
14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matt 5:14-16 (NIV)
“We are holding a light...Though it may seem but a twinkling candle in a world of blackness, it is our business to let it shine. We are blowing a trumpet...We must keep sounding the alarm to those who are in spiritual danger...We are kindling a fire. In this cold world full of hatred and selfishness our little blaze may seem to be unavailing, but we must keep our fire burning. A light, a trumpet, a fire...they seem so little...But ‘with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26), and He will bless our efforts to bring the good news of Jesus to a weary and strife-torn world.” Billy Graham